My handy husband has been very busy. He decided he wanted to try one of those upside down tomato plants. They are all over the TV and seem to be all the rage here. Lets just say that he does not like to spend money he does not need to. So he decided to make his own.
Here are the supplies you need. He got the bucket at Panera. Did you know if you walk into a Panera and ask for a bucket the will give you as many as you want? They get their pickles in them, they smell like pickles too!
You also will need a drill with the proper bit, garden soil and or dirt from the ground, scissors, a piece of garden cloth or a coffee filter, and A tomato plant.
The only thing we bought was the plant $3.00 and the soil for about $6.00. The topsy turvy sells for $20 to $30. We saved a little bit of money there.
Step 1-Get a 5 gallon bucket you can find them at most hardware stores.
Step 2-Drill a 2 inch hole in the bottom of the bucket with your drill, and place your garden fabric in the bottom with a slit in it to make room for the plant.
Step 3-Put your plant into the hole in the bucket carefully, then fill your bucket with soil (hubby also put soil from Spruce Hill in there too. He insists that there must be Maryland soil for it to taste like a Maryland tomato)
Step 4- Cover with the lid and flip it over. Let the plant grow in the bucket for a week in order for the roots to establish before you flip the bucket over to hang it up. Make sure you water it!
He made two, one for my Dad and one for us.
Step 5-Now that the plant is about 12 inches tall it is time to hang it upside down.
Step 6-hang your plant up, you need to make sure it is a strong enough place to support it's weight.
We hung ours on the very end of the swing set, were there are no swings hanging. He attached a board to the top of the swing set with screws and put two nails in it to secure it.
Another great thing about these are that even if you do not have room in your yard for a garden you can still have fresh veggies. Some people are even planting cucumbers and other vine veggie plants upside down!
Have fun with it and let us know how it works out!
I can't wait to plant mine now!!
Posted by: Virginia | May 13, 2009 at 12:24 AM
Wow, I have not heard of this. Very creative! I can't wait to see how yours grow! Yes, your hubby is very handy!
Posted by: Pony Girl | May 13, 2009 at 12:44 AM
Goodness me! Who knew it would grow standing on its head!?
Posted by: tracey petersen | May 13, 2009 at 04:16 AM
My MIL received one for her birthday and she doesn't like it. I wish your husband lots of luck but so far he looks to be going in the right direction.
Posted by: Erika | May 13, 2009 at 08:31 AM
Great project.. Hope it bears much fruit for you.
DI
The Blue Ridge Gal
Posted by: Di | May 13, 2009 at 08:56 AM
I have heard a lot of buzz about them too. I am excited to see how they work out, plus the fact that you can get free buckets at Panera is crazy!
Posted by: Sara Streett Cook | May 13, 2009 at 09:37 AM
That is a great idea! I didn't even know what Panera was. We don't have those here in the west, but since my hubby and I own a restaurant, I have pickle buckets coming out my ears! Right now the bear hunters steal them to put bear bait in. Guess what the bear bait is? Old grease from the fryer that we use! Things sure are different here in this little one horse town in Idaho!
Posted by: Teri | May 13, 2009 at 01:12 PM
Wow that is interesting! I would have never thought of that. It is very different there in Idaho. You don't have Panera? Oh I love it there :)
My hubby loves buckets, anytime we can get free ones it makes him very happy!
Posted by: Spruce Hill | May 13, 2009 at 01:32 PM
Is the benefit of this that you can get away with no weeding? And keep critters from eating them? Or is there some other reason to do it this way.
It does look cool.
Posted by: Hilary Cooper-Kenny | May 13, 2009 at 06:42 PM
Yay ... my pc is letting me post on here today! :-))
I have never seen anything like that before. I didn't know you could grow them like that.
It is going to be nice to see what your way with using buckets looks like when the plant has grown.
Very cool idea.
I hope you have a great weekend. :-)
Posted by: Samantha ~ Holly & Zac ~ | May 14, 2009 at 09:33 AM
You've given me hope! My tomatoes always fall victim to assorted varmints around here - maybe this is a way to outsmart them. Great tutorial - can't wait to build mine.
Posted by: carson | May 14, 2009 at 05:51 PM
That's awesome! I especially like that you used a massive pickle bucket. Do you really go through that many pickles?
Your tomato plant looks great.
Posted by: dadshouse | May 15, 2009 at 12:09 PM
What a great idea - followed the link from 7MSN Ranch. I'm going to give it a try. Thanks.
Posted by: Nor'dzin | June 04, 2009 at 08:07 PM